I Will Never be a Pirate
by RSTUV
Summary: Nami and Luffy's first meeting


I watched from my perch, atop the inn of the village that was currently being ransacked by the Buggy Pirates, watching a boy in a red vest, straw hat, and flip flops take on pirates twice as big as him. _Hmmm a pirate fighter huh. I could sure use one of those._ I made a quick decision to try to recruit him.

"Wow, your really strong." I cooed only half pretending to be impressed, it really was quite a feat. The pirates weren't even making any sounds.

"You beat those guys with swords bare-handed." He squinted up at me and, looking slightly irritated, demanded

"Ah? Who are you anyways?" _Straight to the point,_ I like that.

"My name is Nami, want to be partners?" I asked figuring I would get straight to the point as well.

"Only steal treasure from pirates?" He asked, studying me intensely. _He seems like a very serious person. Today is my day, I stole Captain Buggy's map and I found a very strong partner who can protect me. Hopefully he is not too intelligent or it will make things for me when I trick him out of his gold.  
_

"Yeah I am a thief who only steals form pirates. If we team up we could get a whole lot of money." I said smiling.

"No way! I'm not interested in teaming up with you" the boy declared dismissively, walking away. _Why would he not be interested, I have a treasure map everyone likes treasure. Aha maybe he has his own treasure. I wonder where he is keeping it._ I eyed his yellow straw hat remembering how defensive he got when the pirates took it from him.

I jumped down from the roof, and ran to catch up with him.

"Hang on a second." I yelled causing him to stop walking and wait for me to catch up.

"So what's with the hat?" I asked when we were side by side, there was no response, "When you thought they had damaged it you got so mad. Is it expensive?" I asked again trying to keep the excitement out of my voice. He reached a grubby hand up to touch his hat, gazing into the distance. _What the?_

"This is my treasure." He confessed, murmuring as if he was letting me in on a big secret. _Aha so there is treasure in it,_

"Hya! Treasure! Is it full of jewels, Maybe it's a treasure map." I prodded out loud, starring at the hat to see if there where any odd marking. _Nope nothing just looks like a worn out straw hat. This guy must be cleverer then I thought. He has some how managed to hide the map so nobody can tell from the outside. I will need to be careful, with him working for me._ They started walking again, I decided to take the lead and headed toward one of the abandoned houses. Dropping the hat topic for now seemed wise. Did not to seem too interested in case he got suspicious. I shoved open the door to the house, the villagers had not had time to lock up while fleeing from The Buggy Pirates. _Like it would have done any good._ It was a small, homely cottage, with a square wooden table and two chairs in the middle. Light filtered in from two large windows on either side of the house. There was a fireplace in the middle of one wall and to its left, a book case. I walked over to the table and sat on the far end of it. Straw hat boy sat in a chair on the other end, pulling his legs up to sit cross-legged. _There is just something about him that says strange. I have not seen any particularly strange behavior, but I just am getting a feeling...Well as long as it is nothing more then a feeling._

He had talked earlier about missing his crew. So I decided to start there and see if they would be useful as well.

"So you got separated from your crew. How many people are in your crew?" _There starting easy._

"Only one. Is this your house?" _He speaks as if it is normal to only have one crew member, how does he only have one crew member?_ I decided to let that comment go, _no need to make him uncomfortable if he is just starting out, besides makes it easier for him to join me._

"No I do not even know whose house this is. Everyone in this village is hiding in a shelter outside of town. They are trying to avoid conflict with the Buggy Pirate Fleet."

"Hmmmmmmm. Is he that scary? This pirate called Nami?" The boy asked not looking the slightest bit scared. _He looks almost intrigued. Wait What? Nami? My name is…_

"I AM NAMI! The pirate is Buggy" _I was so wrong,_ I mentally groaned, _I've picked up an idiot!_ He looked at me as if he was shocked to learn this. I just decided to press on.

"About Buggy, he's a famous pirate, known for his love of cannons. When a bunch of kids from a village where he once stayed laughed at his nose, he used a cannon to wipe out the whole village" Even I had to suppress a shiver at the thought of Buggy getting a hold of me.

"And" I leaned in and lowered my voice "its said that he has got a really strange power." The boy did not seem even slightly alarmed, _maybe he is braver then I thought._

"Then why isn't there anyone in this village?" He asked, looking around as if he expected someone to pop out of the fireplace at any moment. This time I could not keep the anger out of my expression. _No he is just an idiot. Was he not even paying attention?! How is he even sill alive. That crewmember must be the brains of the two. Otherwise there is no way they could have made it this far with all the pirates roaming about nowadays._

"I just said they're avoiding conflict! What have you been listening to all this time?" I snarled, this was getting tedious.

"Aha! So you're stealing from these empty houses." I blinked, not quite able to believe what I had just heard. _No he could not possibly be this stupid. How dare he put me in the same category as a common thief, as a pirate!_

"Don't compare me to those common house robbers! I shouted at him. I could see Arlong's sneering face in my head. _Don't you dare put me in the same boat as that monster!_

"Hahahahahahah. Eh, calm down" laughed the boy, grinning widely, not bothered that I was ready to strangle him.

"It's so tiring talking to you" I sighed sighing resting my head in my hands.

"My goal is to get a hundred million Beli, then I am going to buy a certain village."

"Buy village? A hundred million Beli is a lot. You are going to have to steal from a lot of pirates" _At least something seems to have punctured the bubble around his ears._ Reaching for Buggy's map, _well my map now,_ I thought grinning to myself.

"I've got a plan for that." Unfurling the map I waved it at him. "Look this the map of the Grand Line that I just stole. I am going to steal some treasure from Captain Buggy's. Then I'm going to the Grand Line to steal from even greater pirates who carry even more treasure. Whaddya think? Don't you want to team up?" I asked, deciding that being straight forward was the only thing he seemed to respond to. His expression had turned thoughtful. It was a bit unnerving to have him gaze at me like that. _Like he can see my secrets, see through my lies._ When he did not speak I continued, keeping my voice steady

"You look strong, I could use your power, and you'll get your share of the treasure too." He spoke up then, _must been the treasure part, I thought that might grab his attention_

"By any chance do you know how to navigate?" He asked _yes of course, does he not know, is fighting the only thing he is good at?_ Excited that he was interested, quickly assured him

"Yeah, of course! There aren't a lot of people who know more about Navigation then I do." I boosted while inwardly I thought, _and I have the tattoo to prove it._ After stuffing that thought down and I kept going

"Especially since I love the sea." He seemed to be sold, because a second later he jumped up from his seat and shouted

"Yeah! That's great! We're also on the way to the Grand Line!" He cheered.

"Really?" I asked like I was amazed at the good fortune, although inwardly I thought h _ow on Earth could this guy make it to the Grand Line, he cannot even listen to people properly. But hey that's why we will work good together._

"Yeah! Hey you come join our crew you can be the navigator. Become a member of our pirate crew!" He crowed jumping up on the chair. _Wait WHAT! No no no…This boy is a pirate? He was trying to trick me, he knew that I rob from pirates…well maybe he remembered me saying that. But still.  
_

"NO WAY!" I shouted at him. His smile deflated and he sat back down on his chair, looking very confused. I took a breathe to control my anger, and stated

"SO you're a pirate, forget it! We didn't have this conversation. I don't want to team up with you." _I hate pirates. I hate them. I hate them. I hate them._ Yet when I looked at his blunt expression, I some how could not bring my self to put him and Arlong in the same category. But all pirates are pirates. I remembered the map in his hat.

"Ahh! Now I get it. So you were going to use that map of yours in your hat to find treasure." I guessed putting the pieces together He looked mad for the first time

"I told you this is not a treasure map." He barked.

"Yeah right! Then what is it? Why call that stupid rag of a hat your treasure?" I insisted. _He's lying, all pirates lie. He just wants to throw me off._ Now that I knew what he is, no need to be nice. The boy was not paying attention to me though, he had removed his hat and starred down at it with a adoring look in his eye.

"I got this hat ages ago, from a friend. It's my treasure! I swore to myself to gather up a crew and become a pirate to catch up to the person who gave me this hat." He confessed. I did not know what to say to that I seemed so out of character of a pirate, to make oaths. _What am I saying this boy loves pirating, he is just like Arlong. I have to quit falling for this emotional crap._

"Huh everything's pirate this and pirate that! This is a pathetically sad era." I scoffed, getting down from the table. _Looks like another failure. I'll have to find somebody else. Why is he so happy? Urgh._ I wanted him to be a miserable as I was at another failed attempt to get a partner.

"The thing I hate most in the world is pirates! I only like money and oranges." I growled at him. _Damn Arlong for taking Bellemere and my money. Damn it he is just really stupid…useless pirate? He does not look like he's got anything to steal. Plus he doesn't seem to be very helpful._

"Hey, come on, be our Navigator." He whined. _He only hear what he wants to hear._

"You think I'm crazy? Shut Up you dumb pirate." _How many times do I have to tell this dingdong._ I paused in what was becoming another rant, because a thought occurred to me. _Wait I could swing this around_ I thought smirking to myself. I studied the simpleton. Pretending to be reluctant I sympathized

" Well it looks like you're in a fix, so just under one condition and I'll consider joining." He brightened immediately,

"Really! Thanks! What is the condition?" _Heh gotcha. Too easy._

"Go with me to see Captain Buggy." I demanded, "that's all I want." Faster then I could follow the boy was out of the chair and past me on the way to the door grinning wider then ever. _What the? How did he move?_

"Okay lets go" he called over his shoulder eagerly. "Where is Buggy anyways?" _He must have also not been paying attention when I told him about Buggy either. Or he would not be so eager to come with me, but then again he is an idiot. I shouldn't complain, I am getting what I want. Now I just need rope._ Grabbing some rope that I found in one of the closets near the kitchen I followed him outside. _All that's left to do is jump him and tie him up. As if I'd ever be a pirate. Fool!_


End file.
